Hair dryer

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a hair dryer including a cylindrical body having a front portion on which an exhaust grill is installed, a rear portion on which an intake grill is installed, an exhaust nozzle installed on a front portion of the exhaust grill, a blower fan and heating unit that are installed inside thereof, and an manipulation panel installed on an outer surface thereof, a rotational frame that is adjacent to the manipulation panel and installed around an outer circumference of the body to be capable of rotating around the body, and a rotational ring that is installed on the rotational frame to be capable of rotating about a axis defined along a diameter direction of the rotational frame. The user can stably grasp the hair dryer by inserting his/her finger into the rotational ring and thus the user can treat the hair using only one hand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hair dryer, and more particularly, to a hair dryer that is designed to allow a user to stably grasp thereof, do the beauty treatment with his/her one hand, and easily manipulate a button thereof by providing a rotational frame rotating around a body thereof and a rotational ring in which his/her finger can be inserted.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a hair dryer used at home or beauty shops has a handle that is formed in a shape similar to a handle of a pistol and fixed to a body. The handle of the hair dryer may be foldable so as to reduce a volume of the hair dryer for the carrying convenience.

As described above, the typical handle of the hair dryer is fixed to the body of the hair dryer and thus it is difficult for a user to simultaneously grasp the handle and other tools. That is, when the user wishes to use scissors or a barrette while treating the hair using the hair dryer, he/she has to put down the dryer or hold the dryer under his/her arm and pick up the scissors or barrette. This is troublesome for the user and time-consuming.

In order to solve the limitation, a hair dryer that is designed with only a cylindrical body without the handle has been proposed.

Although the hair dryer with the cylindrical body has an advantage of allowing the user to simultaneously grasp the hair dryer and other tools, it still has the following limitations.

The hair dryer with only the cylindrical body has a disadvantage due to its structural limitation that the user cannot stably grasp the same as compared with the hair dryer having the handle formed in the pistol handle shape.

Further, the hair dryer with only the cylindrical body has another disadvantage that the user has to move his/her whole hand in accordance with a work angle. Therefore, the work difficulty increases as compared with the hair dryer having the handle formed in the pistol handle shape.

Furthermore, the hair dryer with only the cylindrical body has another disadvantage that the user has to use his/her both hands to manipulate a button.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a hair dryer that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hair dryer that is designed to allow a user to stably grasp thereof, do the beauty treatment with his/her one hand, and easily manipulate a button thereof by providing a rotational frame rotating around a body thereof and a rotational ring in which his/her finger can be inserted.

To accomplish the above object and other advantages, there is provided a hair dryer including: a cylindrical body having a front portion on which an exhaust grill is installed, a rear portion on which an intake grill is installed, an exhaust nozzle installed on a front portion of the exhaust grill, a blower fan and heating unit that are installed inside thereof, and an manipulation panel installed on an outer surface thereof; a rotational frame that is adjacent to the manipulation panel and installed around an outer circumference of the body to be capable of rotating around the body; and a rotational ring that is installed on the rotational frame to be capable of rotating about a axis defined along a diameter direction of the rotational frame.

The body may include a front body and a rear body that are provided at opposing portions with respective flanges having a smaller diameter than peripheral portions such that a seating groove for receiving the rotational frame is formed.

Protrusion-groove engagements may be formed on an inner circumference of the rotational frame and an outer circumference of the flanges of the body so that the rotational frame can rotate step by step.

The rotational frame may be provided with a through hole formed at a corresponding location to a location where the rotational ring is installed; and the rotational ring may include a ring portion in which a user's finger is inserted and a ring neck that is integrally formed with the ring portion and inserted into the through hole.

A torsion spring may be installed between the ring neck and the through hole to apply biasing force in an opposite direction to a rotational direction of the rotational ring.

Gear-shaped protrusion-groove engagements may be formed on an inner circumference of the through hole and an outer circumference of the ring neck so that the rotational ring can rotate step by step.

A comb member may be formed on an end portion of the exhaust nozzle.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the present invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the present invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the present invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a hair dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hair dryer of FIG. 1, when the hair dryer is assembled;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a body and a rotational frame of the hair dryer of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a rotational frame and a rotational ring of the hair dryer of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a rotational frame and a rotational ring of a hair dryer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a hair dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hair dryer of FIG. 1, when the hair dryer is assembled.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a hair dryer in accordance with an embodiment includes a cylindrical body 100, a rotational frame 110 that is installed on the cylindrical body 100 to be capable of rotating around the cylindrical body 100, and a rotational ring 120 that is installed on the rotational frame 110 to be capable of rotating.

The cylindrical body 100 includes a front body 101 and a rear body 102. A supporting cap 140 on which an intake grill 130 is installed is coupled to a rear portion of the rear body 102. An exhaust nozzle 150 is installed on a front portion of the front body 102. An exhaust grill 160 is fitted between a front opening of the front body 101 and the exhaust nozzle 150. A heating unit (not shown) such as a heating wire and a blower fan (not shown) are installed in a space defined by the front and rear bodies 101 and 102. A manipulation panel 170 with a plurality of manipulation buttons 171 is installed on an outer surface of the front body 101.

A display window 172 is installed at a center of the manipulation panel 170 and a lamp (not shown) that emits light in accordance with the operation of the hair dryer is installed inside the display window 172. A wire connecting member 103 for connecting to an external power source is mounted on a lower portion of the cylindrical body 100.

The front and rear bodies 101 and 102 are provided at opposing portions thereof with respective flanges 104 having smaller diameter than portions around thereof. The flanges 104 provide a circumferential groove in which a rotation frame 110 that will be described later is disposed.

The rotational frame 110 is installed on an outer circumference of the cylindrical body 100 to be adjacent to the manipulation panel 170 installed on the front body 101. In more detail, the rotational frame 110 seats on a circumferential groove defined between the front and rear bodies 101 and 102 to rotate around the circumference of the cylindrical body 100.

A rotational ring 120 has a diameter such that a user's finger can be inserted. The rotational ring 120 is installed on the rotational frame 110 to be capable of rotating. At this point, the rotational ring 120 is installed to rotate about a axis defined along a diameter direction of the rotational frame 110.

According to the above-described embodiment, the user can use the hair dryer in a state where he/she grasps a portion where the rotational frame 110 is installed and inserts his/her finger into the rotational ring 120, thereby stably maintaining a grasping state of the hair dryer even when there is no handle extending downward from the cylindrical body 100.

In addition, it is possible for the user to manipulate the manipulation buttons 171 using only one hand grasping the hair dryer.

Further, since both of the rotational frame 110 and the rotational ring 171 are capable of rotating, the user can use the hair dryer at a variety of angles without feeling any inconvenience and thus can easily treat the hair.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a body and a rotational frame of the hair dryer of FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 3, formed on an inner circumference of the rotational frame 110 and an outer circumference of a flange 104 of one of the front and rear bodies 101 and 102 are protrusion-groove engagements A.

The protrusion-groove engagements A formed on the cylindrical body 100 and flange 104 prevent the rotational frame 110 from freely rotating relative to the outer circumference of the cylindrical body 100. When the user wishes to rotate the rotation frame 110 relative to the cylindrical body 100, the user can rotate the rotational frame 110 while feeling the snap by the protrusion-groove engagements.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a rotational frame and a rotational ring of the hair dryer of FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the rotational frame 110 is provided at a side with a through hole 111. The rotational ring 120 is installed through the through hole 111 of the rotational frame 110.

At this point, the rotational ring 120 includes a ring portion 121 through which the user's finger can be inserted and a ring neck 122 that is integrally formed with the ring portion 121 and inserted through the through hole 111 of the rotational frame 110. Therefore, the rotational ring 120 rotates about the ring neck 122 defined along a diameter direction of the rotational frame 110.

Installed between the through hole 111 of the rotational frame 110 and the ring neck 122 is a torsion spring 180. The torsion spring 180 biases the rotation ring 120 in an opposite direction to a rotational direction of the rotational ring 120. Thus, when the user inserts his/her finger into the rotational ring 120, the user can more stably grasp the hair dryer as the torsion spring 180 applies biasing force to the rotational ring 120.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of a rotational frame and a rotational ring of a hair dryer according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, protrusion-groove engagements “a” that is provided in the form of gear engagements are formed on an inner circumference of the through hole 111 of the rotational frame and an outer circumference of the ring neck 122.

Like the protrusion-groove engagements A of FIG. 3 that are formed between the inner circumference of the rotational frame 110 and the flange of the body 100, the protrusions-groove engagements “a” prevent the rotational ring 120 from freely rotation in the through hole 111 of the rotational frame 110. When the user intends to rotate the rotational ring 120, the user can rotate the rotational ring 120 while feeling the snap by the protrusion-groove engagements “a.”

Accordingly, when the user inserts his/her finger into the rotational ring 120, the user can more stably grasp the hair dryer as the protrusion-groove engagements “a.” apply coupling force to the rotational ring 120.

Meanwhile, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a comb member 151 is formed on an end portion of the exhaust nozzle 150 through which warm air is exhausted by the heating unit and blow fan. The user can use the comb member 151 to treat the hair without using a separate comb.

The foregoing embodiment is merely exemplary and is not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The present invention can also apply to the second row seat. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A hair dryer comprising: a cylindrical body having a front portion on which an exhaust grill is installed, a rear portion on which an intake grill is installed, an exhaust nozzle installed on a front portion of the exhaust grill, a blower fan and heating unit that are installed inside thereof, and an manipulation panel installed on an outer surface thereof; a rotational frame that is adjacent to the manipulation panel and installed around an outer circumference of the body to be capable of rotating around the body; and a rotational ring that is installed on the rotational frame to be capable of rotating about a axis defined along a diameter direction of the rotational frame.
 2. The hair dryer according to claim 1, wherein the body comprises a front body and a rear body that are provided at opposing portions with respective flanges having a smaller diameter than peripheral portions such that a seating groove for receiving the rotational frame is formed.
 3. The hair dryer according to claim 2, wherein protrusion-groove engagements are formed on an inner circumference of the rotational frame and an outer circumference of the flanges of the body so that the rotational frame can rotate step by step.
 4. The hair dryer according to claim 3, wherein the rotational frame is provided with a through hole formed at a corresponding location to a location where the rotational ring is installed; and the rotational ring comprises a ring portion in which a user's finger is inserted and a ring neck that is integrally formed with the ring portion and inserted into the through hole.
 5. The hair dryer according to claim 4, wherein a torsion spring is installed between the ring neck and the through hole to apply biasing force in an opposite direction to a rotational direction of the rotational ring.
 6. The hair dryer according to claim 4, wherein gear-shaped protrusion-groove engagements are formed on an inner circumference of the through hole and an outer circumference of the ring neck so that the rotational ring can rotate step by step.
 7. The hair dryer according to claim 1, wherein a comb member is formed on an end portion of the exhaust nozzle. 